Identify the party that owes you money

Correctly identifying the other party

If you wish to make a claim against a person, business or a company, you’ll need to find out the correct address, name, or legal entity of the other party. You also need to make sure you a​re naming the right person or business and you have their correct address. 

If you do not have the correct contact details for the other party you won't be able to clearly communicate your claim to them. If you end up going to court, you may not be able to serve (give) court documents on the other party and this will cost you money and time.​

If you have not been in contact with them for a while, you will need to find out if the address you have for them is current.

You need to work out whether you are claiming against an individual person or a business. 

If the other party is a business you will need to know what sort of business it is: a company, sole trader or partnership. The other party could also be a co-operative or an incorporated association or a government department.

You can find out the name of the other party by looking at any documents you have from them, for example, receipts, invoices, letters and emails. 

If you want to make a claim against a business or trader for goods or services, consumer laws may apply. For more information about consumer rights and to lodge a complaint, go to the NSW Fair Trading website or get legal advice​. 

If you want to make a claim in court, it is very important that start your case against the right person or business and that​ you use the correct name for them.  If you don't name the correct person or business as the defendant, and the claim has to be amended or withdrawn, you may be ordered to pay their legal costs. Also, court fees will not be refunded. 

Person

If you decide to start a case against an individual in court, you will need the correct name and address of the person (not a PO Box) to serve them the court papers.  

If you have a claim against a person, you will need:

• ​the first name and family name of the person
  
• an address for the person (not a post office box).
  

If you don't have an address for the person, here are some ways you can out their details. If you have tried these options and still cannot find the person, you should get legal advice.

Search the White pages

To search the White Pages, go to the White Pages website. 

Contact by email or social media

If you have another way of contacting a person, for example by email or online such as Facebook, you could contact them this way. You will usually need their street address if you want to go to court.

Asking other people

You could try to find the persons address by asking family or friends,  or asking other people who know the person. You could try writing to the person's last known residential address, or writing to their workplace.

Private investigator

You could hire a private investigator to find the person. You can find private investigators through internet searches or the Yellow Pages directory. 

You should make sure any investigator you choose is licensed and that you have discussed the fee before deciding if this is an affordable option for you.

Car accidents

If your claim is the result of a car accident, you might be able to get the name and address of the owner of the other car from Roads and Maritime Services (RMS), by making an access application under the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009. For more information, see Car accidents​. ​

Business/sole trader/partnership

If your claim is against a business, you will need to work out who owns the business. A business could be owned by a:

• ​sole trader (one person)
  
• ​​a partnership (two or more people) or
  
• a company (corporation).
  

If you don’t have the name or address of the business, here are some ways you can find this information. 

Sole trader or partnership

If a person or a partnership runs the business, you must make a claim against the individual business owner or the partners.

If you decide to start a case in court, you claim would name the defendant as:

• 'Fiona Frame trading as Fantastic Florists ABN 11 123 123 000'.

All business names are registered with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).  You can do a free business name details check on the ASIC business names register. This will tell you:

• the business name
  
• registration date and registration status and next renewal date
  
• current address for service of documents
  
• current principal place of business
  
• business name holder.
  

You can also search the Australian Business Register at ABN Lookup​, which has a record of all individuals, businesses, companies and organisations that have an Australian Business Number. This search can tell you the trading name of an individual, business or organisation and whether it is a sole trader, partnership, company or some other kind of entity. 

If a business name is not registered, you will need to find out who owns the business. If you can’t do this, you can make a claim against the business name. 

If you start a case in court, you will need to amend the statement of claim form after you find out the name and address of the owner of the business. If you can’t find the name of the business owner after doing a business name details check on the ASIC register, you should get legal advice​.

Companies (corporations)

If the business is run by a company, you must make a claim against the company. A company may have a trading name that is different. You still need to make the claim against the company name. For example, your claim would be against 'Frame Ltd trading as Fantastic Florists'.

If you decide to start a case in court, you claim would name the defendant as:

• 'FF Holdings Pty Ltd ACN 111 222 111 trading as Fantastic Florists'.

You can do a free search for information on a company on the ASIC organisations and business names register. The free search will give you the locality of the company but not the full address.

If you want the address you will need to pay for a more detailed search. You can do a paid search on the ASIC website. For more information on how to do this and the fees go to How to search ASIC registers on the ASIC website. 

You can also use an information broker to get information. To get the contact details, go to Information Brokers on the ASIC website. 

Incorporated association

You can get the full name and address of an Incorporated Association from NSW Fair Trading. To do this you can request an extract from the Register of Incorporated Associations. 

You will need to fill out an 'Incorporated associations search request form'. For a copy of the form see, Accessing associations public records, on the NSW Fair Trading website.

You can lodge the form: 

• In person, at a Service NSW Centre - see ‘Counter services’ on the NSW Fair Trading​ website
  
• By email,  registrysearches@customerservice.nsw.gov.au
  
• By posting it to: 
  Registry and Accreditation
  PO Box 22
  Bathurst NSW 2795.

Payment of an inspection fee is required when the search request form is submitted. For the list of fees, see Association fees  on the NSW Fair Trading website. 

You can also search ABN Lookup, which has a record of all individuals, businesses, companies and organisations that have an Australian Business Number (ABN), which is used to administer the goods and services tax. 

This search can tell you the trading name of an individual, business or organisation and whether it is a sole trader, partnership, company or some other kind of entity. This ​information may help you with further searches on the internet.

Government department

If a NSW government department owes you money, your claim would be against 'The State of New South Wales'. 

If a Commonwealth government department owes you money, your claim would be against 'The Commonwealth of Australia'. 

If your claim is against a government department, you should get legal advice.